What was it like in the past?

Lake Victoria is a comparatively young and shallow lake, and studies of the lake have shown that it has dried up completely at least three times since its inception nearly 400,000 years ago. In the past, the lake supported a thriving fishing industry but after the introduction of Nile Perch and Nile Tilapia beginning in the 1950s, the population of many of the lake native species crashed. Furthermore, the nile perch is most heavily over fished.